Earned Sick Leave, Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill, Net Neutrality Bill Package, Property Taxes as Charitable Contributions, School Security & Maternal/Infant Mortality Concerns up Monday

Also on Tap: Transgender Rights, School Breakfast Participation, Toll Road Electric Vehicle Charging Stations, Healthy Small Food Retailer Act, School Temperature Guidelines & No Confidential Public Whistleblower Settlements

Discussions also set NJ’s new Animal Protection Law, Health Care for Women Service Members/Vets & the Importance of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Potential Impacts of Proposed Federal Cuts  

(TRENTON) – Earned sick leave for New Jersey workers, Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act, a 3-bill net neutrality bill package, property taxes as charitable contributions, requiring school buildings to be equipped with security linked to law enforcement and legislation dealing with state concerns about maternal and infant mortality highlight Monday’s Assembly committee hearings.

Also on tap: transgender rights, boosting school breakfast participation, electric vehicle charging stations along toll roads, the Healthy Small Food Retailer Act, school temperature guidelines and no confidential public whistleblower settlements.

The meetings are slated to begin at 10 a.m. and will be streamed live at:

http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/media/live_audio.asp

            HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:

• A-1827 (Lampitt/Mukherji/Green/Wimberly/Sumter) – Concerns earned sick leave. 10 a.m. Labor.
• A-1504 (Burzichelli/Eustace/Danielsen) – “Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act”; permits qualified terminally ill patient to self-administer medication to end life in humane and dignified manner. Noon Judiciary.
• A-2131 (Chiaravalloti/Zwicker) – Directs BPU to prohibit Internet service providers from installing broadband telecommunications infrastructure on certain poles or underground facilities unless Internet service providers adhere to principle of net neutrality; A-2132 (Chiaravalloti/Zwicker) – Prohibits awarding of public contracts to Internet service providers, unless Internet service providers adhere to principle of net neutrality; A-2139 (Chiaravalloti/Zwicker) – Requires cable television company to commit to principle of “net neutrality” as condition of approval of applications for municipal consent to system-wide franchise. 2 p.m. Science, Innovation and Technology.
• A-3499 (McKeon) – Authorizes municipality, county or school district to establish charitable funds for specific purposes; permits property tax credit for certain donations. 1 p.m. State and Local Government.
• A-1862 (Lampitt/Mukherji/Vainieri Huttle) – Establishes Maternal Mortality Review Commission to annually review and report on rates and causes of maternal death in New Jersey, and to recommend improvements in maternal care; A-2366 (Vainieri Huttle/Mukherji) – Requires DOH to develop New Jersey Report Card of Hospital Maternity Care; and A-3653 (Speight) – Requires Child Fatality and Near Fatality Review Board to study racial and ethnic disparities that contribute to infant mortality. 10 a.m. Women and Children.
• A-764 (Caputo/Tucker/Quijano/Vainieri Huttle/Sumter/McKnight) – Requires school buildings to be equipped with emergency light and panic alarm linked to local law enforcement. 10 a.m. Education.
• A-3502 (Lampitt/Wimberly/Jones) – Requires school district to report quarterly to Department of Agriculture number of students who are denied school breakfast or school lunch; and A-3503 (Lampitt/Jones/Wimberly) – Requires certain school districts to submit report on nonparticipation in “Community Eligibility Provision” of National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs; A-3504 (Lampitt/Pintor Marin/Barclay) – Expands summer meal program to all school districts with 50 percent or more of students eligible for free or reduced price meals; and A-3506 (Lampitt/Sumter/Barclay) – Requires “breakfast after the bell” program in all schools with 70% or more of students eligible for free or reduced price meals. 10 a.m. Education.
• A-1718 (Vainieri Huttle/Gusciora/Zwicker/Chiaravalloti) – Revises procedure for issuance of amended birth certificate for person who has undergone change in sex; A-1726 (Vainieri Huttle/Eustace/Pinkin/Jasey) – Defines information to be included on death certificates, including gender identification; and A-1727 (Vainieri Huttle/Eustace/Pinkin/Jasey) – Establishes Transgender Equality Task Force. 2 p.m. Human Services.
• A-665 (Jasey/McKnight/Caride) – Requires each board of education to adopt policy establishing temperature control standards and guidelines for school district facilities. 10 a.m. Education.
• A-1445 (Benson/DeAngelo/ Eustace/ Chiaravalloti/Muoio) – Directs installation of electric vehicle charging stations at service areas on state toll roads. 10 a.m. Transportation.
• A-2164 (Wimberly) – “Healthy Small Food Retailer Act”; provides funding to small food retailers to sell fresh and nutritious food; appropriates $2 million. 1 p.m. Agriculture and Natural Resources.
• A-1229 (McKeon/Quijano/Benson/Houghtaling/Downey/Zwicker) – Bars public entities and public employees from entering into confidential settlements of “whistleblower” claims; provides that such settlements constitute public records. 1 p.m. State and Local Government.
• The Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee at 1 p.m. will hear testimony from representatives of county prosecutor offices, the New Jersey Association of Counties and the New Jersey League of Municipalities to update the committee concerning implementation of the state law that transferred the enforcement powers of the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NJSPCA) to county prosecutors and other local entities.
• The Assembly Human Services Committee at 2 p.m. will take testimony on the importance of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in New Jersey, and the potential impacts of proposed federal cuts to the program.
• The Assembly Military and Veterans’ Affairs Committee will meet at 10 a.m. to hear testimony on the health concerns of women service members and women veterans.